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Record number of Americans support legalizing marijuana

A new poll released by the Pew Research Center reveals that, "for the first time in more than four decades of polling on the issue, a majority of Americans favor legalizing the use of marijuana."

Pew found that 52 percent of those polled suport the outright legalization of marijuana, compared to 45 percent against, and that 72 percent think "government efforts to enforce marijuana laws cost more than they are worth."

Additionally:

The survey finds that an increasing percentage of Americans say they have tried marijuana. Overall, 48% say they have ever tried marijuana, up from 38% a decade ago. ...

Among those who say they have used marijuana in the past year, 47% say they used it “just for fun,” while 30% say it was for a medical issue; 23% volunteer they used it for medical purposes and also just for fun.

“You can only fight an unwinnable war for so long," says Neill Franklin, executive director of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, in a press release. “It's time legislators caught up to their constituents in calling for an end to an unwise use of limited and valuable law enforcement resources.”